I’ve had about half my drink when Bill calls out to Lilla and me. “Okay, ladies, you’ve had your fun. Now, if you could go back to the kitchen over there…” He points behind him. “The waitresses will help get you started. Dinner will be served soon, Mr. Wild,” he adds to Dylan with a slap on the back.
Dylan ignores him and turns to me. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you have time to eat.”
I stand up. “That’s sweet, but you don’t know my boss. He’s probably committed us for the whole night.”
When we arrive in the kitchen, we learn the ropes from Todd, the head waiter.
“If you mess up an order, don’t tell the head chef,” he warns us. “Pedro hates mistakes.”
“So what the hell do we do if we screw up?” Lilla whispers to me.
“Run,” I say.
* * *
A couple of hours later, Lilla and I have made enough mistakes for a lifetime. Serving is hard work, and when it’s for a roomful of athletes who each want the equivalent of three meals’ worth of food, it’s even more taxing. I make Lilla wait on the players’ tables so I won’t be more embarrassed than I already plan to be, and I take the staff of coaches and executives. I definitely get it easier than Lilla, who is making about two runs to my one.
“Pedro, I need two key lime pies and three chocolate cakes,” I call out.
Dinner is finally wrapping up, but now there’s dessert and coffee.
“Need some help?”
I turn to see Dylan ducking his head around the corner of the kitchen. His cousin, Colton, is with him, along with Lilla’s crush, Marcus.
I hurry over to them. “Are you a masochist?” I say to Dylan in a low voice. “This is no place for a novice. I should know.”
“I’m not a novice,” he says. “I waited tables for years back home.”
Is this guy for real?
“We’ll take it from here,” he says. “Go sit down. You deserve a break. Pick out a dinner entrée, and I’ll get it for you.”
“I don’t think Pedro will be willing to make another dinner,” I say nervously. “You know that stereotype where the cook has a terrible temper? Well, he actually does.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Dylan says. “And get Lilla to sit down, too.”
Dylan introduces me to Marcus and Colton.
Marcus is cute with a shaved head and brown eyes, and Colton’s as attractive as I remember. He and Dylan are opposites—Colton’s blond hair and blue eyes contrast with Dylan’s dark features. Colton’s gaze stays steadily on us as Dylan’s arm goes around me.
Colton extends his hand to me. “It’s nice to see you again, Jasalie. I remember you from the Super Bowl after party.”
I shake his hand. “I’m sorry I was such a terrible server. Then and now.”
He chuckles, his blue eyes sparkling with amusement as he brushes his overgrown blond hair out of his eyes. “I don’t think my cousin thinks you’re terrible at anything, so I wouldn’t worry about it.”
I flush with heat and shoot a glance at Dylan, who winks and turns me toward the exit. “Go find Lilla and relax. I’ll see you soon.”
* * *
“Did you get enough to eat?” Dylan asks me as we sit together later that night, the event basically finished for the evening.
I nod and smile at him.
A couple of cameramen were allowed into the event for the final half hour, and Dylan and I posed for a few pictures. All were planned and perfectly executed, and he said they’ll be on some sports site tomorrow. Dylan made sure I was comfortable with the set-up, and he cut the cameras off as soon as he could.
The truth is, I didn’t mind standing there next to Dylan with his arm around me. It almost felt real like we were actually a couple, and the happy feeling inside my chest scared the hell out of me.
